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[X784, Grimoire Heart's Airship]
— Hades —
The Master of Grimoire Heart swirled the deep red wine in his glass as he gazed through the massive glass window in the guild's floating fortress. His single grey eye gleamed with amusement beneath his long silvery white hair, while the other eye remained hidden beneath a black eyepatch.
The darkened sky beyond the glass stretched endlessly, stars dotting the skyline as pale moonlight shone against the mountains and landscapes of Ishgar. A fitting view for a dark king.
Hades stroked his long white beard thoughtfully as he pondered the events of the past few years.
The formation of the Balam Alliance had altered the balance of power on the continent. Dark Guilds were no longer scattered and divided, hunted by the Council and the Light Guilds like vermin. No — now they were organized, dangerous, a force that even the Magic Council had begun to fear.
Grimoire Heart alone could rival half the legal guilds in Fiore — and that was before considering the Seven Kin of Purgatory. Each one a living weapon, personally trained by Hades himself. Finding all those lost magics and sharing them accordingly had allowed them all to flourish.
It was busy work, especially working with Brain and Mard Geer. Only now did their plans take a bit of a pause. For once he was allowed a moment of peace and was determined to enjoy it. He knew that it wasn't going to last long.
A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. 'Soon…'
"LORD HADES!" The doors to the room burst open violently, the quiet serenity being shattered by Zancrow's loud, excitable voice.
The God Slayer stomped into the chamber, waving a crumpled newspaper in his hand. His wild blonde hair stuck out in jagged spikes, and his manic grin exposed sharp teeth. His long black cloak billowed behind him as he practically skipped across the floor.
Hades sighed, draining the last of his wine. His free hand adjusted his eyepatch slightly as he looked toward the wildest of his Kin.
"What is it now, Zancrow?"
"LOOK AT THIS!" Zancrow practically threw the paper at him.
Hades caught it with a lazy flick of his wrist. His eye narrowed as he scanned the headline.
"FAIRY TAIL TRIUMPHS OVER PHANTOM LORD"
Beneath it was a grainy photograph — the smoldering wreckage of Phantom Lord's headquarters— and beside it, a picture of the surviving Fairy Tail mages. There were even small sections dedicated to specific Fairies, one of them being a young man with dark hair and heterochromic eyes, standing before the wreckage. Dannis Martell.
"Yes, I was aware of the conflict." He rolled the paper up neatly and tossed it onto the table beside him. "I was quite specific with Ultear to ensure that the Council would not interfere in hopes of weakening Fairy Tail. But it seems Phantom Lord was weaker than I expected. Not a single major member of Fairy Tail was killed."
"Not that! I don't care about the fight between weaklings!" Zancrow pointed to the picture of Dannis Martell, where the newspaper reported his feat of blocking the Jupiter Cannon and defeating Aria of the Great Sky in single combat. "This is him, right?! The guy you called Eclipse-Born! His magic's Darkness isn't it? Do you think he could be a God Slayer too? All God Slayers have magic that are colored black right?!"
"From what I understand, his magic is strictly the manipulation of Darkness itself, constrained within the limitations of the element." Hades smiled faintly. "Though there was an interesting report of him creating soldiers made of shadow to combat Jose's shades. It is an intriguing ability."
"Gah!" Zancrow's fists flared with black flames as his mouth twisted into a snarl. "Even so, I wanna fight him! They say he can even absorb magic, right?! Let's see what happens when he tries to absorb the magic of a god!"
Hades chuckled darkly. "While I do appreciate your enthusiasm, Zancrow, the time to confront Fairy Tail has not yet arrived. Your opportunity will come."
"But the boy is right about one thing." A deep voice echoed from the far side of the room. Hades turned his head slightly to see his second in command leaning against a doorway. "Despite controlling a third of the underground, you're still keeping us on a pretty tight leash. I don't get why."
Bluenote was a terrifying man with great stature, standing a few inches taller than Hades himself. Not a day goes by when Hades does not regret recruiting the former Lieutenant Colonel of the Gohra Army. Bluenote was a competent mage and an excellent right-hand man, who himself had earned a position in Fiore's Hazard Registry as a Catastrophe Level Threat.
Hades had long known that Bluenote had his own agendas when he agreed to serve him, but as long as they didn't go against Grimoire Heart's goals, Hades was willing to let them pass.
"You mistake patience for hesitation, Bluenote." An odd smile appeared on Hades' face. "You and I both know that the Balam Alliance was only a means to an end. After all, our true goal is Zeref."
"Yeah, that's one thing." Bluenote acknowledged with a nod. "But that doesn't mean we can just ignore what's happening on our own turf. I heard there's a light mage that's been going around targeting dark guilds. Most of the ones taken down belong to Oración Seis — but a few were under our umbrella."
"Truly? That's rather bold of them." Hades's smile widened. "Well we can't let that pass, can we? Zancrow, you've been itching for a fight, yes? Go and handle it."
"Hell yeah, thanks Master!" Zancrow replied with a wide grin.
"In the meantime, check in with Meredy as well. I gave her a mission to gain information on Raven Tail. The master of that Guild is someone I know personally and he's not one to follow orders. Ivan is an unpredictable man — even more dangerous than his father in some ways." Hades chuckled.
"Haa, do I have to?" Zancrow whined. "Babysitting Meredy is usually Ultear's job!"
"Unfortunately for you, Ultear's quite busy. So you will have to do."
"Ugh, fine." Zancrow huffed.
"Until then," Hades's hand drifted toward his glass, though he left it empty, "perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea for the Seven Kin to stretch their legs. There are quite a few light mages worth watching."
Both Zancrow and Bluenote perked up at this.
"Let me tell you about a side project I've been keeping an eye on," Hades said, his smile sharpening like the edge of a dagger. His lone grey eye gleamed.
"Have either of you heard about the Tower of Heaven?"
…
— Laxus Dreyar —
Laxus eyed the headline of the newspaper as he sat at the base of a tree, one leg bent up while the other stretched out lazily over the rocky ground. There was a bit of a chill this high up the Velothi Mountains, but he barely noticed it.
The Thunder God Tribe was stationed deep in the mountains, just southwest of Crocus, the Capital of Fiore. Their current mission was a delicate one—the kind that required them to stay under the radar, avoid drawing attention, and gather information rather than going in magic blazing. None of that was Laxus' area of expertise, but he could adapt.
Gramps had called him just two months ago about an important mission, one that had to be kept under wraps. It was the whole reason why they never bothered calling for him during the Phantom Lord debacle. Not that he would help. Those weaklings should be able to fight their own battles.
Laxus' sharp blue eyes flicked over the crumpled newspaper in his hand, scanning the headline for the third time that night. FAIRY TAIL TRIUMPHS OVER PHANTOM LORD! The rest of the article was filled with dramatized details — the kind of grandstanding garbage that reporters loved to print — but the part that made him clench his jaw was further down.
Dannis Martell — known better as the Dark Swordsman — defeated Aria of the Great Sky singlehandedly, and stood against Phantom Lord's Jupiter Cannon.
Laxus let out a sigh and tossed the paper aside. He rubbed at the back of his neck, scowling toward the dark sky.
"Is something wrong, Laxus-sama?" Freed asked. He was crouched beside the firepit, stirring a simple stew in a battered metal pot. They were still quite a ways away from their target and made camp in the middle of nowhere.
"Nothing." Laxus replied curtly. "It's just the whole war with Phantom Lord."
Freed frowned. "I still find it hard to believe that a legal guild like that pulled something like this. The Council must have known what Jose was planning — they're not that incompetent."
"They let it happen because they wanted to see us weakened." Laxus' mouth curled into a sneer. "It's exactly what those damned old coots would do."
"Phantom's always been jealous of us." Bickslow added as he sat down a ways away from the others, carving a piece of wood into another totem he used to store his souls. "Remember when some of Phantom's mages picked a fight with us back when we were in Oak Town?"
"Oh, please. Those guys were just weaklings." Evergreen huffed, waving her fan dramatically. Her brown eyes narrowed behind her glasses. "Phantom's real strength came from the Elemental Four. Aria has definitely earned his title as Ace of Phantom Lord. It's hard to believe that he was a match for Dannis."
"Ever!" Freed's voice sharpened. "We're not supposed to say that name."
Evergreen flinched, realizing her mistake. "R-right. Sorry." She rubbed her neck.
"I don't remember ever forbidding you to say that name." Laxus noted with a raised eyebrow.
"Laxus-sama…" Freed hesitated.
"Don't hold yourselves back for my sake." Laxus rested his chin on his palm. "After all, he helped save you guys as well, didn't he?"
All three of them went quiet. Bickslow's visor-covered eyes were fixed on the ground. Freed's grip on the spoon in his hand tightened. Evergreen's fan slowed its movement. Laxus knew exactly what they were thinking — because he was thinking it too.
"Go back." Laxus ordered.
Freed's head snapped toward him. "Laxus-sama?"
"He didn't look too good, didn't he?" Laxus muttered. "The newspaper didn't catch it that great, but he got pretty injured in the fight. You guys wanna see him, don't you? Go back to Magnolia. I'll handle this mission myself."
The finality in his tone had them all gulping. All three of them glanced at one another, obviously hesitant. Laxus sighed.
"Look, just take this." Laxus reached into his coat and pulled out a small communication lacrima, tossing it toward Freed. Freed caught it in one hand, his brows furrowing. "It connects to mine. Get back to Magnolia, take a look at Dannis. Once you're done, contact me. We'll rendezvous again then. Got it?"
Freed hesitated, looking down at the lacrima in his palm. Finally, he nodded. "Understood."
"Good." Laxus leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head. "Just make sure not to tell anyone about this mission. The old man was pretty adamant that we keep this on the down low."
"Laxus-sama—"
"Enough." He cut them off. "We'll take off in the morning." Laxus pulled out a sleeping bag and laid it out on the cold ground. He slid his headphones over his ears and pressed play, letting the deep thrum of music drown out the crackling fire and the worried glances from his team.
"See you guys tomorrow." His eyes closed as the music's pounding bass filled his head.
Laxus didn't tell them the real reason he sent them back.
After all… he was just as worried as they were. He wouldn't feel right until he heard from Freed — until they told him, face-to-face, that Dannis was okay.
As the music hummed in his ears and the cold wind rustled the leaves above, Laxus' body gradually relaxed. His mind drifted as sleep took him — but beneath that cool exterior, the weight on his chest remained.
He'd feel better once he knew for sure.
…
AN: The next few chapters should revolve around Laxus. We're gonna be seeing a lot on the underground of Fiore. It's gonna be a mini arc and a set up for the Tower of Heaven arc.
This is also the first Hades pov. I don't know if there are gonna be anymore in the future, but for now, I decided he would be a good POV character for whatever happens in Grimoire Heart. After all, his position as former master of Fairy Tail gives for some pretty fun inner monologues.
P.S. I have a thing where I write one or two chapters in different fandoms whenever I'm having writer's block to get back on the muse. I'm debating whether or not to post some of those unpublished chapters here as some sort of snippets things on my page. Would any of you be interested in that?
P.P.S. Please do me a solid and send your stones and write more reviews. The novel has been quite stagnating with less and less impressions as the week goes on.
Anyways, thanks for reading. Love y'all lots.
Cheers lads.